CJ McCollum To Sign One-Year Extension With Hawks

McCollum’s extension, which will cover the 2026/27 season, features a trade kicker, agent Sam Goldfeder tells Charania.

Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal reported shortly after McCollum was traded to Atlanta in January that the two sides were interested in working out an extension worth around $20MM for one year.

McCollum, who will turn 35 years old before next season begins, opened last season with the Wizards. Washington traded McCollum and Corey Kispert to Atlanta to acquire four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young, who recently opted out of his $49MM player option to become an unrestricted free agent. Young is expected to re-sign with the Wizards.

Long regarded as one of the best players to have never made an All-Star team, McCollum’s scoring average dipped below 20 points per game for the first time in 10 years in 2025/26, but he was still productive at age 34, averaging 18.7 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3.1 RPG and 1.0 SPG on .456/.357/.748 shooting in 76 combined games with the Wizards and Hawks (29.8 MPG).

McCollum is one of several veterans around the league eligible for extensions through June 30. McCollum has had four opportunities to become a free agent and has opted instead to sign an extension on each occasion, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The extension for McCollum rules out the possibility of the Hawks operating as a cap space team, observes Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron (Twitter link). Atlanta currently projects to be $15.5MM below the tax line if the team exercises its $24.3MM option on Jonathan Kuminga, Gozlan adds.

McCollum helped the Hawks surge up the Eastern Conference standings in the second half of last season and was a key contributor in Atlanta’s first-round playoff series vs. New York. The Hawks took a 2-1 lead in that matchup before losing the final three games, while the Knicks went on to win the championship.